This invention relates to a tendon cutter and, more specifically, to a cutter particularly adapted to at least partially sever the tendons of a bone-containing anatomical section, thereby facilitating removal of the meat therefrom.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,327,463, issued to Eugene G. Martin on May 4, 1982, entitled SINGLE STATION ANATOMICAL SECTION DE-BONING MACHINE, discloses an apparatus particularly adapted to remove the meat from, or debone, the thighs and drumsticks of fowl such as chickens, turkeys and the like. The device which is the subject of this patent, when utilized to debone drumsticks, mechanically grips the hock knuckle and thereafter pulls the drumstick through a restricted orifice, the orifice functioning to longitudinally strip the meat from the bone.
It has been found that when machines of the general type as disclosed in the aforesaid patent are utilized to debone larger anatomical sections such as turkey legs, the bone sometimes fractures during the pulling process, necessitating thereafter hand-removal of the bone and attendant fragments from the meat. This bone breakage is attributable primarily to the fact that the tendons on occasion if not often have a tension strength exceeding that of the bone to which it is attached.
Bone breakage, on any scale other than a very minor one, is unacceptable. Not only is it often necessary to shut down the machine in order to remove the bone and meat fragments and thereafter discard or debone by hand the resultant pieces. It is also necessary to insure that through the provision of sufficient inspection personnel, etc., no bone fragments are present in the deboned meat. This added expense may render what is otherwise an economical money-saving operation unacceptable.